The state-controlled phosphate fertilizer producer reported a 2.84 billion-dirham loss for the first half. It linked pressure on results to a sharp rise in sulfur prices after the Strait of Hormuz closed.
OCP, Morocco’s state-controlled fertilizer group, told Reuters it had not decided whether to pay shareholders for the 2026 financial year. The response followed media reports that the company might forgo dividends.
The group reported a net loss of 2.837 billion dirhams, about $284 million, for the first six months of the year. In the same period a year earlier, it earned 8.252 billion dirhams, or roughly $826 million.
OCP said sulfur prices had roughly tripled since the Strait of Hormuz closed. The waterway is an important route for sulfur shipments. The raw material is used to produce sulfuric acid, which converts phosphate rock into phosphoric acid, a key ingredient in many phosphate fertilizers. Higher costs and supply disruptions raise production expenses. Unprocessed phosphate rock can be exported without that step.
The company said it was too early to estimate a possible dividend or confirm whether there would be one. A decision will follow the preparation of annual results and meetings of OCP’s governing bodies, it said.
For 2025, OCP paid 89.56 dirhams per share, or 7.357 billion dirhams in total, equal to about 42% of group net profit. The Moroccan government holds a 94.12% stake.
To reduce its exposure to higher input costs, OCP is increasing output of triple superphosphate. The company told Reuters in June that the product requires less sulfur and no ammonia compared with diammonium phosphate.